Sony Cancels Playable Gran Turismo 5 UK Demo

no-gran-turismo-5-playstation-houseWith so many of you making plans to attend the PlayStation House tour after we noticed that Gran Turismo 5 would be making an appearance, I felt this latest turn of events has warranted its own blog post. Unfortunately, in a statement to VG247, SCEE has announced that GT5’s listing on the site was a “mistake”. Sure enough, Sony has just updated the PlayStation House website, removing the racing title from the description (the old version lives on in Google’s cache, for now).

Anyone interested in cooking up a conspiracy theory should keep in mind that several of our readers, after talking with Sony employees running the “House” confirmed that GT5 would be arriving at the display “soon”. Was it an honest mistake, then, or was the game pulled after its appearance started getting publicity? It would be interesting to hear what those workers have to say about all of this, so be sure and ask them if you still decide to go (just be nice about it – remember, it’s not their fault).

Alas, it might not be all bad news: as pointed out by several readers in the comments to my previous post, Gran Turismo 5 is on schedule to be shown at DigiExpo in Helsinki, Finland on October 30 – but can we really believe you this time, Sony?

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Comments (49)

  1. Tommy

    Just played Gran Turismo 5 today at DigiExpo, Finland. Was worth to wait ~50 mins for it!
    To be honest I didn’t even know that GT5 was going to be at that event.

  2. Niko

    Sony maybe cancels Gran Turismo 5,2010 Q4.Not impossible…….nothing new info,new gameplay,new screens,new trailer.I wait five years this game,this is new name:Wait Turismo 5.Sorry,i disappointed……….

  3. Timppaq

    Ah, DigiExpo then? Need to ask if any of my friends are going, I know Karri lives in Helsinki (Grandi). Maybe hge’ll visit and tells a worthy opinion…

  4. Hi_Jordan

    Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude or anything, my wife’s a grammar nazi & I guess it’s starting to rub off on me …

  5. Hi_Jordan

    Hey Jordan, I’m pretty sure your use of “alas” at the end of the article is incorrect. IIRC “alas” is connected to something bad/unfortunate rather than something good/positive. … Just sayin’ …

    Anyway, keep up the good work!

  6. carib3d

    The guys at PD at are playing of forza3…So GT would be delayed even further … Don;t look for GT5 until 2011… Most Gt fans think it’s not all the a good game because they are brainwashed.. They should try it… I know 3 die hard GT fans starting from gt2 days that played forza and became fans of it..

  7. TOLL-Scibba-HRT1

    what can i say maybe it is going to be a japan download only just like GT5p demo only………. hey sony how come microsoft can have Forza Motorsport 3 demo in all account????????? sony your are all bunch loserssssssssssssssssssss

  8. ItsHim

    Maybe they were just afraid of all those middle aged men rampaging through their stores, fighting for another go at the demo? Not quite as easy to handle as your average 13 yo kid after all ;)

  9. Justin

    People need to stop being so pessimistic. It’s a demo that got canceled, a demo that we have already seen(assuming it is the TGS one).

  10. Joey61

    Be honest i think there’s no more to talk about GT5 until release date. Let’s just enjoy the 6-7 months we got left until it comes and not even put a single thought into GT5 until a month before release. Ok we can put a thought into it once a month but that’s it. There’s really no updates and special anouncements for months to come im pretty sure. So just enjoy life now because when it comes out……………. you know what will happen.

  11. Maximou

    Take a look at the video I shot during Festival du jeu vidéo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMf7VSCjn34 (what you want to see is about 2min40).

    I left the race in order to see what you are asking. There were 8 icons disabled (except arcade mode). The icons in the main menu were exactly the same as the one found in GT PSP http://www.wonderwallweb.com/1-GT-PSP_Grand_Top.PNG .

    If the demo shown at the micromania game show next saturday is the same as TGS or TAS, I will do it again.

  12. RADracing

    Maybe if your allowed instead of doing the 2 lap demo just browse through the menu and see whats inside of GT5 like the tuning section, garage, if there is a LAN settings and tuning shops in the dealer section. Come on I’m tired of looking at the Tokyo track and people who can’t drive or are just crashing the car to see the damage effects or if there are skid marks or if the headlights work. Check to see if there are weather options or something.

  13. Sam__ NY

    Its all about money. PD probably thought showing GT5 in the UK was a good idea, but the cost to rent space in the mall, set up the stand and sims, and so forth was to much of a hassle. The companies (Sony) cost-benefit was not worth it so they simply pulled out.

  14. Maximou

    Gran Turismo 5 may be at the next Micromania game show in Paris. The game is listed here http://www.micromaniagameshow.fr/jeuxvideo-editeurs.php ; since i bought a ticket just for this game, I hope it’ll not be cancelled… I’ll take my camera to shoot some videos of the beauty.

    God, make the demo to be at least the same one presented at TGS or at TAS 2009. (Because i’ve already shot the GC demo at the festival du jeu vidéo)

  15. sourav93

    i checked out playstation house today at the Bull Ring, B’ham. I was hoping to see gt5 playable but the PS staff said it was not on demo. They said they didnt know anything about it. I showed them the GTplanet article and, the current cached, PShouse games list, through the ps3 web browser. They told me that they haven’t heard anything about it at all. i was a bit dissappointed but it was all good when i tried out the God of War 3 demo….KRATOS ROCKS!!! too bad UK doesnt get the God of War collelector’s pack. So gamers in UK, if u wanna try out the God of war 3 E3 demo, i say u head over to ur nearest Playstation house convention when it arrives to a city near you. peace

  16. Krymzen

    @d3br34k5

    Lots of people in the UK care… including me.

    I could poodle up to London on the 5th December to have a few minutes play. But noooooo not anymore.

    I’m annoyed… but not surprised. Sony, give us the EU/US release date, and explain what this “mistake” was all about!! :(

  17. d3br34k5

    It was only going to be the one-track, 2-lap demo with an unfinished damage engine anyways. Who really cares?

  18. Ben Williams (UK no.13 on prologue)

    @ Irishash85

    “and yet another disappointment. i hate the fact that PD can disappoint left and right, and yet people will still buy the game at launch. no wonder PD thinks it’s alright to just tippy toe around with development, because the entire fanbase will still buy it no matter what. what a great way to show your customers thank you for your support, a long drawn out dev process with minimal information. it’s one thing to hold back some info to keep the suspense up, but this is ridiculous. better release that playable demo on PSN soon or i’ll go elsewhere with my money”

    You are welcome to go elsewhere, you obviously don’t understand the GT culture, It says a lot about the quality of Gran Turismo that we all know we will be buying it, no matter how much Sony mess up their PR during dev.

    The fact is, nobody will lose out if you “Go elsewehre”, oh wait, one person will…

  19. Blademask

    Im a die hard GT fan, but FM3 isn’t a replacement for GT anymore than NFS shift is. Hardvibe, make sure you put a deposit down on that $350 dollar fantec wheel too & 50 dollar xbl membership!

  20. M1A1

    My big guess is they are waiting for the official release of FM3 to see how it goes. PD is smarter this time, they hide a lot of secrets so the competition don’t know what hit them when they showed the wow factor. We all know Kaz is well aware of the competition now, unlike before that he just ignores them and move on. Almost look like they are the Lockheed skunk work of game developers this time, always keep a secret then blow the competition out of the water when they released it. :D

    F/A-22 cough.. 21’st century is awesome!

  21. KoosSpeeTerreur

    Where is the EU & US releasedate that would be announced ‘soon’ after TGS???
    Sony is screwing their customers over and over again with these kind of fake promises. Now this again.., I don’t live in the UK, but still it’s another dissapointment for the people who do!

  22. irishash85

    and yet another disappointment. i hate the fact that PD can disappoint left and right, and yet people will still buy the game at launch. no wonder PD thinks it’s alright to just tippy toe around with development, because the entire fanbase will still buy it no matter what. what a great way to show your customers thank you for your support, a long drawn out dev process with minimal information. it’s one thing to hold back some info to keep the suspense up, but this is ridiculous. better release that playable demo on PSN soon or i’ll go elsewhere with my money.

  23. Context

    With that big circle with the line through it, at first i thought it was GT5 that was being canceled, so haha this is good news to me.. wheww

  24. transam1998

    Keep in mind folks, we are dealing with the Japanese here, generally kind, respectful folks, but a different culture, with slightly different values, etiquette, business strategies, etc. Things they do can seem a bit odd sometimes. :-)

  25. transam1998

    “I sure hope this thread isn’t littered with the standard issue complaints.”

    Lol, you mean the lack of skidmarks, damage, day and night racing, weather, the Tokyo track, the AI model, the new release date, the PSP version’s existance, etc…

    Naah, I’m sure we will see a whole new list of complaints this time, hehe

  26. Bram87

    I will just be going to play Modern Warfare 2 to bridge the gap between now and March next year.
    Waiting sometimes can be rewarding, so waiting longer must be extra rewarding…

  27. NBH

    Very strange, how hard can it be to set up a few systems running the same demo we have already seen? All I can think of is that PD can only give playable demos of their game at certain events and this isn’t one of them. I’m not that disappointed to be honest. Racing for 1 or 2 laps is just like Prologue and if I’m desperate to have a go on Tokyo R246 I can just fire up my old PS2 and have a go on GT4. It’s the details like tracklists, weather, online options and what different types of cars, classes and races there are that interests me and I guess we have to wait a little longer to find info like that out.

  28. Pabs

    This game better be worth all the hype that has gone about in the past 6 months! Tbh I’m getting really annoyed that it ain’t here yet!

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